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Reactions of Group I Elements with Chlorine

  • Page ID
    35521
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    Learning Objectives
    • To understand the reactions of the Group 1 elements (lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium and cesium) with chlorine

    This page examines the reactions of the Group 1 elements (lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium and cesium) with with chlorine.

    The Reactions of the elements with Chlorine

    The reactions of the Group 1 elementrs with chlorine are similar in appearance to the reactions of the Group 1 metals with oxygen. Sodium, for example, burns with an intense orange flame in chlorine in exactly the same way that it does in pure oxygen. The other metals also behave the same way in both gases. In each case, a white solid is formed, the simple chloride, \(XCl\):

    \[ 2X + Cl_2 \rightarrow 2XCl \nonumber \]

    Contributors and Attributions


    This page titled Reactions of Group I Elements with Chlorine is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jim Clark.

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